The Rudest Book Ever

by Shwetabh Gangwar

Learning of any kind that involves zero investment of your thinking produces only imitation.

Just because somebody is older doesn’t mean they have figured out life.

In most cases, older people are children who have aged.

Whatever I do, I do it for myself, because I want to prove to myself I can do it, recognising that whatever you do in turn impacts the world.

Those who hold prizes, positions and power are sources to learn from—and nothing else. You know nothing about their lives except for their abilities. Admire the fact that they have those abilities, and leave it at that.

Specialness then becomes a collection of skills, and feeling special is the sensation felt on upgrading in life after having mastered a skill.

you think from your ego instead of your rational mind and make it all about yourself.

Those who are able to find out what they want to do in life chase after greatness to prove to themselves that they are great at what they do. With time, they realise they don’t need anybody’s approval, as doing what they want to do gives them purpose, and fulfilling that purpose gives them satisfaction and a meaningful life.

Knowledge can be borrowed, but you can’t borrow understanding.

Once you reach a conclusion derived from your thinking, it is called a realisation.

The truth is, you don’t have the slightest idea what’s going on in their lives, what kind of a person they are, what their motivations are behind forming relationships. You don’t know anything about them.

Always remember: your job is not to understand people, but to understand and take care of yourself.

They may seem this way, but I don’t fucking know.

I am not going to expect anything from them. I know practically nothing about their life. I am going to observe and wait for real data to show up.

Real data is any pattern of behaviour and thought that backs a person’s actions, not words.

People say a lot of shit to sound amazing.

Observe whether it reflects in their choices as well. Choices, specifically, reveal the thought process of that person because, in making any choice, a person is also rejecting the other available options.

Fuck what they would like to do, focus on what people actually do.

First impressions don’t come from data, but from how you perceive the world—which relies solely on your level of intelligence and knowledge.

I don’t know—which is the most intellectual place to be in regarding all matters of life.

I am not going to judge them based on rumours, nor am I going to buy into the hype around them. I simply don’t know.

there is a difference between wanting to do something and having to do something.

Wanting to do something is a choice.

Why don’t you wait until you have figured out what you want to do, and do that?

The problem with this question is, it comes with the privilege of being able to afford to wait, which a large part of this world can’t.

The laws that govern their circumstances simply state: you have to do...

People are successful for a number of reasons: A hunger for money, status, power; A hunger to avoid poverty, desperation and conditions you wouldn’t want to go back to ever again; A hunger to prove in your own eyes that you are capable (which would be the concept of being special); A hunger to provide for those whom you love and are dependent on you.

Society celebrates the winner and ignores the losers—that’s the common practice you grew up seeing.

The essence behind real winning is not giving up, no matter what badges and medals society is handing out.

winning has everything to do with a never-give-up spirit, excelling in a skill, and doing so by hard work.

Winning is not a single event, it’s a continuing process.

Earn specialness by becoming capable.

Once you have decided to become capable, start seeing whatever you are doing as a challenge.

Real winning requires your focus on neither winning nor losing, but upon learning.

what’s the use of what you are learning? In how many areas, fields of study and practices can it be implemented? How much self-belief does this learning generate in you? How much self-value does it provide? Does it have value in the long term, in the market? And lastly, at what point does whatever you are learning start to have real utility in terms of success?

how can you use what you are learning? How many doors will it open for you? In how many ways can you capitalise on this skill? How many opportunities does it have in the marketplace? What’s the full potential of this skill if learned until you are an expert? Where is the geographic hub for opportunities for this skill?

Thinking in terms of opportunity gives you ambition. Ambition gives you seriousness.

how well can you do what you are learning? Do you have a natural talent for this? Are you able to learn this faster than others? Are you slower than others? If yes, then despite being slower, are you able to beat the competition or stand on par by working harder than them?

Success cares about nothing but results.

Real winning is a journey.

Focus on learning, which would suggest that you get a degree from wherever that subject is taught.

The only downside of failing is that your path may become longer, but you’re not dying in the next five years.

And that’s how winning is done, it’s not about which college you went to, which trophies you won at age fifteen; it’s about where you stand, what your capabilities are, and what you can show when the opportunities come.

First, you take ownership of the failure.

You are not a victim, it didn’t happen to you, you caused it.

The findings might tell you that certain relationships aren’t even deserving of negotiations. They need to go.

After all, blaming something is much easier than applying common sense.

We are living in the age of modern advertising in which humans are the products.

The truth is, the more you know yourself, the more power you have to make a better choice.

So, to make even a half-decent choice, the answer to ‘who are you’ should be somewhere between where you are right now and where you want to be; in short, somewhere between reality and aspiration.